Princess Diana is celebrity many Americans would bring back to life: poll

NEW YORK (Reuters) — Britain's Princess Diana is the deceased celebrity many Americans would want to bring back to life while most men would prefer to die before their spouses, according to a new survey about mortality released on Tuesday.

The majority of Americans questioned in the "60 Minutes"/Vanity Fair poll said they would die for their children, but fewer were prepared to give up their life for their country or religion.

Thirty-five percent of people said Princess Diana, who died in a car accident in Paris 16 years ago, is the celebrity they would pick to bring back to life, compared to 14 percent for Apple Inc co-founder Steve Jobs and 11 percent for pop stars Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston.

Seventy percent of men in the poll of 1,005 adults said they would prefer their wives to outlive them, while 46 percent of women said they would want to die first.

When asked what they would be most willing to die for, 55 percent of people said their children, followed by 12 percent for their spouse, 10 percent for their parents or religion and 5 percent for their country.

Only 24 percent of people said they would opt for cryonic preservation, even if it were free, but the number rose to 39 percent among 18- to 34-year-olds. With cryonics, a body is preserved at low temperatures in the hope it can be revived and healed later.

A bar or a shopping mall was deemed the worst place to have one's ashes spread and 84 percent of people said they would prefer their passing to be marked "with laughter, food and drink" rather than something more solemn.

The nationwide telephone poll, which will appear in the October issue of Vanity Fair, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. It was conducted from July 17-21.